Etymologically
Log in

pépier

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word pépier

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
c. 1540 Jacques Yver, Le Printemps d'Yver More words from the 16th century

Forms

pépier[1]

Etymology

It is an onomatopoeic formation on the stem ⟨pepp-⟩, a variant of ⟨pipp-⟩, which imitates the cry of birds.[2][3][4][5] The same stem underlies the verbs Latin pīpīre or pīpiāre and pīpāre.[2][3][6] From the last of these, with an expressive doubling of the ⟨p⟩, came Vulgar Latin *pippāre, the source of Old French piper (“to give little cries”), and with a change of suffix Middle French pipier.[2][3] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert treat this Middle French verb as the older form of this verb.[4][7] Wiktionary compares the English word peep.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the phrase aller pépiant, of young pigeons, in Jacques Yver's Printemps d'Yver (written about 1540, printed 1572): Les petits colombeaux s'apprennent à aller par les nids pepiant (“the little doves learn to go chirping about the nests”).[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The older pipier is found in the same sense about 1380: pipier comme poucins ou pijons (“to cheep like chicks or pigeons”).[2][3][6] In 1588 Du Bartas writes of a pepiant poulet, a cheeping chick.[2] Like other verbs for birds' cries, such as caqueter and jacasser, it came to mean “to chatter” in 1863, in Gautier.[2][3][8]

The noun pépiement (1611) replaced pipiement (1603), formed from pipier;[3] pépiage (1868), pépieur (1898) and pépiant (1886) followed.[3] Bloch and Wartburg date pépiement to about 1840, with an isolated record in 1611.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – The older form pipier is recorded.[2][3]
  • c. 1540 – Aller pépiant, of young pigeons, in Jacques Yver.[2][3]
  • 1588 – Pepiant poulet in Du Bartas.[2]
  • 1611 – The noun pépiement appears.[3][9]
  • 1863 – Gautier uses it for chattering.[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of birds, especially young ones: to chirp, to cheep.[7][10][8][1]
  2. (figurative) Of people: to chatter, to prattle.[8][2]

Word family

  • pépiement
  • piper
  • piauler
  • piailler
  • pipeau

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 211a
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Pépier.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/p%C3%A9pier. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·